Wire twisting hand tool



J. J. GRER 'ET AL 2,416,002 WIRE TwIsTlzNe HAND Tool. Y I

Feb. 1s, 1947.

' Filed Dec. Vzo, 194s Patented Feb. 18,194?

WIRE TWISTING HAND TOOL John J. Greer, Conimicut, and Albert Luongo,

Wickford, R. I. Y

Application December 20, 1943, Serial No. 514,962

s Claims. l

This application relates to 9, device for twi-sting the ends of wiretogether, such for instance as safety wire to prevent the turning of aplurality of nuts.

In the present day practice of handling safety wire the operator engagesthe wire to be twisted by an ordinary pair of pliers and then turnsthose pliers about the axis of the wire to twist together the wireportions and tighten the same on the nut. The wires are then passedthrough the next nut and again similarly twisted. Considerable time isconsumed in such manipulations and the evenness of the twist will varywith the skill of the mechanic.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a hand tool by meansof which the Wires may be gripped and then by the operation of the otherhand the operator may twist the wires quickly several turns and thenquickly repeat the operation as many times as necessary for the desiredtwists while maintaining the original grip on the wires.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device in which asubstantial amount of pressure may be applied on the jaws for grippingthe wire and while this pressure is applied by the hand the jaws may berotated by mechanism operated by the opposite hand.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device which whileaccomplishing the results above mentioned may be easily carried about inthe hand and be sufficiently light to be readily handled while strongfor the purposes intended.

With these and other objects in View, the nvention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a central sectional view through the tool;

Fig. 2 is an elevation looking at the tool at right angles to theshowing in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a plurality of nuts, two of which have been wiredwith the tool in gripping position for twisting the wires into arelation to bind the third nut in position.

In proceeding with this invention we have mounted the rotating partsinball bearings so that while pressure may be applied through the ballbearing rotation may still easily occur. The arrangement is such thatthere is a carrier for a pair of jaws, which jaws may be manipulatedthrough the axial movement of a shaft, while by reason of the rotarymovement of the shaft the jaws of the carrier may be rotated about theaxis of the gripped wires. Manipulation by one hand axially moves theshaft while manipulation with the other hand will serve to rotate it.

With reference to the drawing we have provided a cylindrical body Il) inwhich a carrier designated generally II is rotatably mounted by means ofball bearings I2 and I3. This carrier II is tapered as at I4 at itsforward end. A pair of jaws I5 and I6 are pivoted as at II and I8 onbearing plates 2| so that their gripping ends I9 may be moved apartwhile their inner ends 20 are moved together. The jaws are so shaped andcut away as to permit of such action about their pivot. The plates 2|are secured in place by a pin 2|.

A bearing 22 is held in position by a set screw 23 for rotatably andaxially slidably mounting a shaft 24. An abutment 25 is xed on the shaftWhile a spring 2B acts between the bearing 22 and the abutment to urgethe shaft axially away from the jaws or to the left as shown in Fig. l.Links 21 connect the ends 20 of the jaws with the shaft 24 so that axialmovement under in'- fluence of the spring will spread the jaws at theirgripping ends I9.

In order to move the jaws into closed or gripping position such as shownin Fig. 1, I have provided a collar 28 consisting of two parts, therebeing one part 29 which engages the abutment while the other part 30 isrotatably related thereto through ball bearings 32, all being associatedby means of the shell 3l. Levers 33 are pivoted as at 34 on the body I0and are provided with arms 35 which extend inwardly through slots inratchet 43 connected to the sleeve 4I while the handle 44 carries aportion 45 to lock it to the sleeve while permitting relative rotation.A pawl 4S carried by the handle is spring-pressed as at 41 to engage theratchet so that movement may occur in one direction while the handle islocked to the sleeve during movement in the opposite direction.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that axial movement of the sleeve4I will cause rotation of -the shaft which in turn will rotate the jawsand carrier in the ball bearing mounting of the carrier so as to twistwires which are engaged.

In operation 'a nut 58 which has a hole 5l therethrough will have oneportion 52 of a wire pass through this nut while the other portion 53 ofthe wire will be extended about the nut. The jaws I9 will then grip thewire and by pulling on the handle 44 these will be rotated about thework as an axis to twist the wires together, Several pulls of the handlemay be necessary to provide the number of twists desired to tighten upthe wire in the manner required. The wire Will then be passed throughthe next nut 54 and around the outside of this nut as before. The wirewill then be gripped at the point 55 and again twisted by pulling on thehandle a sufcient number of turns as indicated at 56 to tighten up thewire as required. The wire will then be passed through the nut 57 andaround the nut as before while the ends 58 of the wire will be graspedas illustrated in Fig.` 4 and the handle again pulled to rotate the jawsso as to twist the portions 59 and 69 of the wire tightly as indicatedat 56 between the previous two nuts. This operation may be very quicklyperformed in a fraction of the time usually consumed in performing threesuch twisting operations in the manipulation of safety wires of thischaracter.

If desired a cutter may be provided as at Bi which may be utilized inthe same manner as in ordinary pliers.

We claim:

l. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a shaft in said body a pairof jaws secured to said shaft, means to rotatably mount said shaft andjaws in said body, means to manually move said jaws toward each otherincluding a collar secured to said shaft, and a lever for moving saidshaft through said collar to close said jaws, and means to rotate saidjaws relative to said Vcollar and lever while holding the jaw ingripping position.

2. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a carrier rotatably mountedin said body, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted in said carrier to movetoward and from each other, an axially movable shaft mounted in saidcarrier links connecting said jaws with said shaft for. movement of saidjaws toward and from each other by endwise movement of said shaft, anabutment on said shaft, a collar engaging said abutment, a pair oflevers pivoted on said body having portions engaging said collar formoving said shaft endwise by movement of said levers, and means forrotating said shaft relative to said collar and levers to rotate thecarrier and said jaws` 3. A portable hand tool comprising a body, acarrier rotatably mounted by Vball-bearings in said body, a pair of jawspivotally mounted in said carrier to move toward and from each other, ashaft mounted for axial movement in said carrier, links rotatablyconnecting said jaws and carrier with said shaft and for movement of,said jaws toward. and from' each other by endwise 4 movement of saidshaft, an abutment on said shaft, a collar having a ball bearingrotatably connected with said shaft and engaging said abutment, a pairof levers pivoted on said body having portions engaging said collar formoving said shaft endwise by movement of said levers, and means forrotating said shaft relative to said collar and levers to rotate thecarrier and said Jaws.

4. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a carrier rotatably mountedin said body, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted in said carrier to movetoward and from each otheruan axially movable shaft mounted in saidcarrier, links connecting said jaws with said shaft for movement of saidjaws toward and from each other by endwise movement of said shaft, anabutment on said shaft, a collar engaging said abutment, a pair oflevers pivoted on said body having portions engaging said collar formoving said shaft endwise by movement of said levers, said shaft havinga helical groove therein, and a handle carrying a nger to engage saidgroove to rotate said shaft upon axial movement of said handle.

5. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a carrier rotatably mountedby ball bearings in said body, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted in saidcarrier to move toward and from each other, a shaft mounted for axialmovement in said carrier, links rotatably connecting said jaws andcarrier with said shaft and for movement of said jaws toward and fromeach other by endwise movement of said shaft, an abutment on said shaft,a collar having a ball bearing rotatably connected with said shaft andengaging said abutment, a pair of levers pivoted on said body havingportions engaging said collar for moving said shaft endwise by movementof said levers, said shaft having a helical groove therein, a handlecarrying a finger to engage said groove to rotate said shaft upon axialmovement of said handle.

6. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a carrier rotatably mountedby ball bearings in said body, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted in saidcarrier to move toward and from each other, a shaft mounted for axialmovement in said carrier, links rotatably connecting said jaws andcarrier with said shaft for movement of said jaws toward and from eachother by endwise movement of said shaft, an abutment on said shaft,a-collar having a ball bearing rotatably connected with said shaft andengaging said abutment, a pair of levers pivoted on said body havingportions engaging said collar for moving said shaft endwise by movementof said levers, said shaft having a helical groove therein, a handlerotatably mounted on said shaft and connected `through means formovement in one direction with said helical groove to rotate said shaftupon relative axial movement of said handle.

7. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a carrier rotatably mountedby ball bearings in said body, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted in saidcarrier to move toward and from each other, a shaft mounted for axialmovement in said carrier, links rotatably1 connecting said jaws andcarrier with said shaft for movement of said jaws' toward and from eachother by endwise movement of said shaft, an abutment on said shaft, acollar having a ball bearing rotatably connected with said shaft andengaging said abutment, a pair of levers pivoted on said body havingporti-ons engaging said collar for moving said shaft endwise by movementof said levers, said shaft having a helical groove therein, a handlerotatably m0unt+ ed on said shaft and connected through means formovement in one direction with said helical groove to rotate said shaftupon relative axial movement of said handle.

8. A portable hand tool comprising a body, a shaft in said body, a pairof jaws secured to said shaft, means to rotatably mount said shaft andjaws in said body, means 4to manually move said jaws toward each otherincluding a collar secured to said shaft, and a lever for moving saidshaft through said collar to close said jaws, and means to rotate saidjaws relative to said collar and lever while holding the jaw in grippingposition, said rotating means including a handle and an overrunningclutch connecting said handle in operating relation with said means.

JOHN J. GREER. ALBERT LUONGO.

REFERENCES CITED The$ following references are of record in the nle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hirsch Mar. 3, 1936

